Associate Director of Diversity Recruitment Marc Paulo Guzman shares an update on Darden’s Consortium cohort, the School’s largest to date.
A Record Breaking Year
The Darden Full-Time MBA Class of 2022 includes a record 44 student members of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, a national coalition of top U.S. business schools and corporations and the leading advocate for diversity and inclusion in American business. The Darden Consortium cohort has previously broken this record in both classes of 2020 and 2018 with 36 members. Darden’s Consortium provides academic and career development, support and dialogue, as well as a tight-knit community for its members. The cohort is supported by second-year student liaisons, Kathleen Llontop and Sophie Eckrich, as well as an advisory team of faculty and staff from Admissions, Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Office of Student Affairs and the Career Center.
Consortium students start school each year having already developed deep relationships with each other through intense community building and career development over the late spring and summer since being admitted earlier in the year. In June, cohort members virtually attended the annual Consortium Orientation Program (OP) along with a record 560 student members of the Consortium’s 20 business schools to learn about the Consortium mission, develop relationships across member schools, build community within each business school cohort, and network with top companies looking to hire diverse talent for first-year internships. This summer, more than 20 Darden Consortium alums and second year students provided support as they prepared for OP and the upcoming school year.
A Mission Toward Increased Representation
The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, “Consortium” for short, was established in 1966 to improve representation of Black men in business. The Consortium has expanded to 20 top business school partners and now includes an expanded mission of improving representation and inclusion of Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Native communities in business. Each year, the Consortium welcomes more than 450 students spread across the 20 business schools with direct access to a vast alumni network and more than 80 corporate sponsors who are dedicated to furthering Consortium’s mission. While the focus is towards improving representation of Black, Hispanic/Latinx and Native communities, membership is open to any U.S. citizen or permanent resident, regardless of background, with a proven record of supporting those identities.
Join Darden’s Consortium
Learn more about joining the by accessing the Darden Consortium page which includes details on how to apply directly to the Consortium or how to be referred to the Consortium if applying directly to Darden. Ready to learn more? View a recording of the Consortium Information session or sign up for a Consortium virtual coffee chat (we’re hosting one tomorrow!).
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